Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (3rd Edition) by Brian Tracy is one of the top resources in the market to guide you in planning your time more efficiently, setting goals so that you can surpass them, and fight procrastination. In the 3rd edition of his book, Brian addresses the nuances of technology and how to use them when eating your frogs!

Take Control of Your Emotions Using Technology

By Brian Tracy

The following post is an excerpt from chapter 16 of Eat That Frog.

A word about frogs… It has been said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. Your “frog” is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it. It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life and results at the moment.

Take Control of Your Emotions Using Technology

You must discipline yourself to treat technology as a servant, not as a master. The purpose of technology is to make your life smoother and easier, not to create complexity, confusion, and stress.

Usually, to get more done of higher value, you have to stop doing things of lower value. Keep asking yourself, “What’s important here?” What is most important for you to accomplish at work? What is important in your personal life? If you could do only one or two of the activities available to you, which ones would they be?

Use your technological tools to regularly remind yourself of what is most important and protect yourself from what is least important. Technology can be a simple way to get control of your emotions.

Many people fail to make technology their servant because they fear learning new skills. This fear can be mastered: refuse to let it hold you back. Everything is learnable, and what others have learned, you can learn as well.

Let your organization know that you are interested in learning about technological tools that will make you more efficient. If you have a friend, family member, or coworker who is a tech whiz, learn everything you can from that person.

Above all else, avoid the phrase “I can’t.” Technology is no longer optional; it is just as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic. And the idea that only certain kinds of people are good at technology is a myth. No matter your age, race, or gender, you have the power to master technology. If you do become frustrated, just remember that it happens to everyone; even expert programmers who are paid hundreds of dollars an hour will sometimes be frustrated by technology.

When you make technology your servant, it can be a source of positive, motivating emotions and increased productivity. Post your most important stretch goal on social media and promise your followers you will achieve that goal. Update them daily on your progress so that if you skip a day or slack off, everyone will know.

Posting on social media about your progress is a great way to reward yourself for making headway on long-term projects. When the payoff is far in the future, it can be hard to stay motivated, so getting likes or hearts from your followers on your daily updates can be a way to achieve a mini-payoff.

You can even seek out people in your field on social media and compete with them to see who can eat the most frogs. For example, many novelists like to share their daily word counts on Twitter so they can see who in their social circle is the fastest and most productive writer—and who gives in to procrastination.

Stop being enslaved by social media, and make it work for you instead. It’s simple: instead of posting something trite, post about your life goals and seek the social support to conquer them.

Brian Tracy is one of the top business speakers in the world today. He has designed and presented seminars for more than 1,000 large companies and more than 10,000 small and medium- sized enterprises in 75 countries on the subjects of Leadership, Management, Professional Selling, Business Model Reinvention, and Profit Improvement. He has addressed more than 5,000,000 people in more than 5,000 talks and presentations worldwide. He currently speaks to 250,000 people per year. His fast-moving, entertaining video-based training programs are taught in 38 countries.

Brian is a bestselling author. In addition to Eat That Frog, Brian has written more than 80 books that have been translated into 42 languages, including Kiss That Frog!, Find Your Balance Point, Goals!, Flight Plan, Maximum Achievement, No Excuses!, Advanced Selling Strategies, and How the Best Leaders Lead. He is happily married, with four children and five grandchildren. He is the president of Brian Tracy International and lives in Solana Beach, California. He can be reached at briantracy@briantracy.com.